ISLAMABAD, Sep 27 (APP):Parents have voiced serious concerns over private schools charging exorbitant fees, making quality education unaffordable for middle-class families in the Twin Cities. According to them, many leading private schools and school systems have increased monthly fees by 20 to 40 percent without any clear justification. Parents said schools issue a new fee voucher every few months with a substantial hike, but fail to provide any audit report …
Parents demand check on private school fee hikes
ISLAMABAD, Sep 27 (APP):Parents have voiced serious concerns over private schools charging exorbitant fees, making quality education unaffordable for middle-class families in the Twin Cities.
According to them, many leading private schools and school systems have increased monthly fees by 20 to 40 percent without any clear justification.
Parents said schools issue a new fee voucher every few months with a substantial hike, but fail to provide any audit report or explanation about where the additional amount is being spent. This practice, they said, has doubled the financial burden on families already struggling with inflation.
On top of tuition fees, schools are charging separate heads under annual charges, security fees, lab charges, activity charges, and examination fees, which doubles the financial burden.
Asma Bano, a parent of a student in a private school in Islamabad, said, “We are paying more than Rs 35,000 per month for one child, excluding van charges. With three children, it has become impossible to manage. Schools threaten to strike off the name if fees are not paid on time, but there is no check on their own fee structure.
She stated that another major complaint is the lack of transparency, as many schools do not share their audited accounts and fee increase formula with parents, adding that annual increase is supposed to be capped and linked to inflation, but schools are implementing arbitrary hikes.
Ahmed Raza, another parent from the middle class, said: “We got the fee voucher for next month of Rs 84,000 for two children and in the same month last year it was Rs. 62,000; no new teacher, no new facility but only new fee”.
He further said that he went to pay the fee a week late due to salary delay and they charged Rs 2,500 as a late fee surcharge and his son was not allowed to sit in class for two days.
He demanded a uniform fee regulation policy across the twin cities to provide relief to parents already hit by inflation.
PEIRA officials said the authority regulates the fee structure of private educational institutions operating in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), with permissible fees determined in accordance with the academic quality of an institution and the educational facilities available to students.
They added that private schools are required to comply with the fee-related rules and directions issued by PEIRA, while any increase in fees must remain within the applicable regulatory framework.
They added that the authority assesses the academic standards and facilities of private educational institutions and determines fees accordingly to ensure that the charges are commensurate with the quality of education and services being provided to students
